It's official folks... I'm half an Ironman.
Background
As many of you know, for the past 20 months I've been training for and competing in triathlons. In my first season, I trained with my wife and brother for the Nautica South Beach Triathlon, a stellar Olympic distance (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) event in Miami FL. Later that season, I did a local Olympic distance event at Deer Creek OH.
After a short off-season, I resumed my training in October of 2010. This time my sights were on the long-course distance, more commonly known as the half Ironman or 70.3. This distance entails a 1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, topped off with a 13.1 mi run. The wife took a pass on this round, so my brother and I signed up for the Mooseman Ironman 70.3 in New Hampshire.
Training
For most mortal men, training for an event of this distance is a grueling process. It entails long hours, week after week in the pool, pounding the pavement, and in the saddle. Due to the volume and intensity of training required, careful planning is needed to maximize your time and reduce the possibility of injury or over-training. If you lack experience in correctly structuring these workouts, you may want to enlist a professional. Personally, I used
Mark Allen Online once I entered the build phase of my training.
A typical build phase week consisted of 15 to 20 hrs. and looked something like:
Monday:
5:30 AM - Tempo Swim 3500 yds.
5:00 PM - Moderate Run 5.5 mi.
Tuesday:
12:00 PM - Lifting.
6:00 PM - Moderate Bike 35mi.
Wednesday:
5:30 AM - Distance Swim 4500 yds.
6:00 PM - Tempo Run 6.5 mi.
Thursday:
6:00 PM - Tempo Bike 1 hr.
Friday:
5:30 AM - Moderate Swim 3500 yds.
6:00 PM - Distance Run 14 mi.
Saturday:
Off.
Sunday:
Long Bike approx 4.5 hrs. (followed by 30 min "brick" run every other week)
Race Day
The day before the race I met an older man who had qualified for Kona (a dream of mine) last year. I had told him how nervous I was, and he gave me the perfect piece of advice. "Tomorrow" he said, "be sure to smile. All the hard work is behind you... this is the pay dirt!"
Swim
Q: What does 58 degrees feel like?
A: Ice water.
|
The swim went pretty smoothly. 1.2 miles in 35 minutes isn't great in the pool, but in open water without the black line, 1.2 miles turns into 1.4 miles pretty quick. The water temperature was 58 degrees, but once I got acclimated it was actually fairly comfortable. Ultimately the swim was a high-point during the race. |
Feeling good entering T1.
|
Bike
|
|
The bike course was more challenging that I had anticipated. It included a 3.5 mile climb, with grades reaching 16%, and a net gain of roughly 1200 ft. They just don't make hills like that in Ohio. The best part was that it was a loop course so I got to experience that 3.5 miles twice. A high note was coming down the back-side of that hill where, after a technical section, I reached speeds over 40 mph! And, yes, on the second round I let out a victory scream!
I pushed it hard on the bike, and probably spent too much on it. Before seeing the course I was hoping to average about 19 mph, but because of the challenging nature of it I'm happy with my 17.14 mph average. |
Run
| If I have a strong suit it would be the run, and I trained really hard to make 13.1 miles feel not-too-insanely long. My race plan was to really push the bike and rely on my endurance training and grit to get me through the race (and boy, did I need every ounce of both). My body began its revolt around mile 7. It started in one calf... then the other. Full-fledged, crippling, charlie horses. Then the quads joined in with their spasms. And finally the bottoms of my feet. By mile 12 my leg muscles were lighting up in random patterns like a game of Simon! I can honestly say, I had never pushed through pain like that before... but I survived with a slow, but respectable 8:46 / mi pace.
|
|
The Finish
No words can really describe it, so here's some pictures and my stats!
| SWIM |
BIKE |
RUN |
OVERALL |
RANK |
DIV. POS. |
| 35:11 |
3:16:04 |
1:54:58 |
5:51:23 |
390/1121 |
50/126 |
| LEG |
DISTANCE |
PACE |
RANK |
DIV. POS. |
| SWIM |
1.2 mi. (35:11) |
1:51/100m |
326 |
44 |
| BIKE |
56 mi. (3:16:04) |
17.14 mph |
418 |
58 |
| RUN |
13.1 mi. (1:54:58) |
8:46/mile |
390 |
50 |
| TRANSITION |
TIME |
| T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE |
2:53 |
| T2: BIKE-TO-RUN |
2:17 |
see the full results
|
|
 |
Special Thanks
I'd like to say thank you to my friends and family! Without your support, I could never have done this!
A big special thank you to my traveling fan club!!! I could hear your cheers above all others, and knowing you were waiting for me at the finish line kept me moving.
Thanks for reading!
Dane Bozman - Ironman 70.3 Finisher
Final thoughts:
All this leaves two burning questions.
Q: Will you do another?
A:
Yes.
Q: Will you do a full Ironman?
A: Maybe... I'd like to drop the 70.3 from my signature line.
